Police: Hailey man died of multiple gunshot wounds

HAILEY, Idaho (AP) - An autopsy on the body of a Hailey man missing for four months has determined he died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Blaine County Sheriff Gene Ramsey tells the Idaho Mountain Express (https://bit.ly/1nbNbB4) in a story on Monday that 47-year-old Stephan Michael Romanchuk died after being hit by as many as five rounds from a high-caliber handgun.

Forty-nine-year-old Keith Eric Blankenship of Hailey was charged last week with second-degree murder and concealing evidence in the slaying.

Romanchuk’s wife reported her husband missing in January. She said he had lent money to a neighbor and later confronted him over the loan.

The report says after initially denying knowing Romanchuk or receiving money from him, Blankenship told a deputy last week he killed a man in self-defense and buried him in his backyard.

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Information from: Idaho Mountain Express, https://www.mtexpress.com